Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Cool Things That Fit In Your Hand


On the suggestion of Kovas at Midwest Multi-Sport Life (who always has the good ideas), I recently contacted Outside PR to see if there where any products available for testing and review. The first thing they sent me was a nice selection of GU. I know I can't horde the stuff, but there have been quite a few GU giveaways around the blogosphere lately. I'm going to have to figure out a new way to parse this out to you guys and keep things interesting.

Of course, I put some aside for myself. One of them was a plain silver packet with the mysterious name "new flavor" printed on it. Curious, I tried this one first. It was quite tasty. There was primarily a citrus flavor, but I could taste hints of chocolate too. It tasted like a chocolate/orange truffle in fact. Pull this flavor out of your pocket and suddenly mid-race fueling becomes more civilized.

I emailed the guys at Outside PR and got the skinny. This flavor has now been named, it's called Mandarin Orange. However, it's not widely available yet. But if I where you, I'd keep your eyes open for it because it's awesome.


Another thing I picked up recently was a Nuun Hydration starter kit. The kit included a sleeve of Nuun drink mix tablets and a 16 oz bottle. It was $6 and was displayed at the counter of my local bike shop. It was a perfect impulse buy that I was happy to be impulsive about.

Angie from Barefoot Angie Bee is working for Nuun now, and I've been reading what she's been writing. So I definitely wanted to check it out. As I mentioned last week, watered down Gatorade has tended to be my go to choice for hydration. But Gatorade is not without some drawbacks. Even cut with water, it's really sweet and still causes that sticky "filmy" (if that's a word) feeling in your mouth. And occasionally my stomach gets pissed that I'm drinking it, regardless of how much water I add.

I am a sucker for lemon and lime. Nuun's lemon and lime flavor was great. It's really light tasting, has no sugar, has hydrated me plenty when I've used it, and my tummy has been happy. If you haven't already, you should definitely check out Nuun.

One other piece of business. I owe a bunch of you t-shirts, but I'm not sure the e-mails I've been sending through your profiles are getting through. If you've left at least 5 comments on the blog but have not got a shirt (but want one) double check the list here and then email me.

Oh yeah, I'm back from Vancouver and desperate to get back on the bike....

15 comments:

Johann said...

I really have a problem to stomach most things during a long run. I must say some of the GU flavors have helped with that. I’ll keep an eye out for that new one, but it might never make it to South Africa.

Constantin Gabor said...

Hey Patrick!

I've never tried such products like those you describe here. Aren't they all full of harmful chemicals?!..

I only drink plain water and I eat dried fruits or candy for energy. How wrong am I?

Cheers!

RockStarTri said...

I always think the best stuff to have is what they are serving on the race course for your "A" race. Of course, everything seems to be changing with IM dropping Gatorade in favor of brand new powerbar drink and gatorade reformulating. Lots of stuff to try.

Jennifer said...

Interesting title...
I love GU, don't use Nuun as I only drink plain water. Get on your bike, you'll be much happier for it!

Karen said...

I chugged so much chocolate gu during marathon training I had to branch out to other flavors! Love, love, love nuun! Glad you finally got to try it. Much lighter than Gatorade and easy too since you don't have to measure anything.

skierz said...

Any new flavour is a refreshment! Gatorade does suck with the pasty mouth feeling after half a bottle, thanks for posting your recommendations! Happy bike ride, be safe.

KovasP said...

Oh man, this post was SO not about what I was expecting from the title.

Emz said...

Ok, Kovas's comment cracks me up. Love it.

AND

I made the cut? the shirt? YAY! Can you tell I've never "won" anything on a blog before!? So happy.

Glenn Jones said...

What's the sodium content of the Nuun? I use Endurolytes, but need to find something with more sodium and potassium, based on my past cramping experience when it starts heating up.

OrangeBlossom said...

I've been wanting to try Nuun for a while. I don't like all the sugary sports drinks.

Have you tried other flavors beside the lemon-lime?

Unknown said...

+2 on Glenn's comment on the sodium. I've seen Nuun in running and bike shops but have never tried it. Found out my sweat rate is extremely high so I need sodium supplements. Been using regular salt tabs (350mg sodium)but would like something with some taste.

Does the Nuun just get dropped into your water like an alka-seltzer?

Aimee said...

I LOVE Nuun! I used to do the whole watered down Gatorade too, but sometimes my stomach would still revolt. Then, I found Nuun. It is such an awesome product. I sweat a lot, so it is perfect for me on my bike rides and runs! Oh, and I've had all of the flavors and they are all good!

Barbie said...

I don't mind gatorade but I do agree with the funny after taste. As for GU gels, they aren't my favourite. I prefer the Chomps, I like chewing on stuff.

Take care on your bike.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the bloggie love and so glad you like the nuun!!

Unknown said...

So to answer a few questions.
Nuun comes in tablet form that you drop into 16 oz of water. It has the most electrolytes of any sports drink out there right now per 16 oz serving. It is carb and sugar free. The ratio of electrolytes to each other (calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium) as well as the ratio to water is balanced so all you have to do is drink.
nuun also has a product called U. It has less electrolytes and added vitamins and is all natural.
Nuun has some artificial ingredients to keep it a stable in all conditions product.
Hope this helps :)

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